(Football news) Arsenal have reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the signing of Martin Odegaard for a fee of around £30m. The Norwegian International spent six months on loan at the Emirates stadium last season and will now join the Gunners permanently at North London. In addition, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will also welcome Aaron Ramsdale from Championship club Sheffield United for an initial fee of around £24m with a possible further £6m in add-ons should the English goalkeeper establish himself as the first choice.

The decision to sign Aaron Ramsdale is to provide more competition for the Number 1 spot as Bernd Leno has displayed underwhelming performances since his move from Bayer Leverkusen in 2018. Ramsdale will sign a four year contract with the option to extend a further year and was left out of Sheffield United’s clash against West Brom yesterday.

However, Arsenal’s summer transfer business has drawn criticism from various pundits who have claimed that an estimated £135m has been spent ‘on a B team’. Along with the duo, Arsenal have also signed Ben White for £50m, Albert Sambi Lonkonga for £15m and Nuno Tavares for £7m.

Arsenal finished eighth in the Premier League last season and failed to qualify for any European club competition for the first time in 25 years. To add to their miseries, the North London club lost to newly promoted Brentford 2-0 at the start of the 2021-2022 Premier League campaign and will now face Chelsea at the Emirates.

Also read: Newly promoted Brentford sink Arsenal on opening day of the Premier League